Ian Abel

Morning... well, it was a couple of hours back! Weekend was busy and predictable. Spent much of Saturday sorting out and arranging "things" so that I can proceed with various hobby activities, seems the sorting and getting spaces useable takes far more time than actually engaging in direct hobby activities <sigh> Sunday off to the cabin with Jemma, pump removal and water lines draining order of the day. All done and dusted but left me tired and needing to relax/alnmost nap once I was back home... Was that the weekend... do I get another one... rats, back to work. Today our friends who are in the midst of their move will be staying for a couple of nights, think they're getting tired of living in their summer farmhouse in southern Minnesota while they wait for their condo renovations to be completed so they can move in. Yours truly will prepare dinner - sole bonne femme - so long as the shop hss sole available when we go for the ingredients. Bit hit and miss at present, we'll see. -2C first thing <brrr>, partly cloudy, no precipitation in the forecast, high may reach 3C 🤯 then down to -4C overnight. Carry on.

POETS. Jury out as to whether we'll take advantage! Yesterday, all items addressed save the tree/shrub trimming at the rental, landscaper running late, may be here today or tomorrow. Greeted with THIS, this AM, and why many locals refer to this place as MinneSNOWTA; Doesn't "count" as it's not a measurable amount to be recorded, but it's still SNOW. 1-2 inches about an hour north of us. It'll all go away by noon here, and even though we've a few days of colder weather, next Thursday-Saturday it's supposed to reach 21C again. Little planned for the weekend, I WAS going to get the garden railway loop sorted for Halloween running, but weather may discourage that. Also, been informed I get to help take the pump out at the cabin Sunday, so that p!sses away half of Sunday anyway 😒 Kits, accumulation thereof. I've got the following that need attention, EXCLUDING anything railway related, of which there are several, mostly goods vans 1) Completion of a started 1/24 Revell Phantom II 2) 1/100 Doyusha Concorde 3) 1/12 Tamiya Texaco Marlboro M23 F1 car 4) 1/32 Tamiya F14A Tomcat 5) 1/24 Revell London Routemaster Bus Maybe will get to some/one this winter? 0C light snow first thing, overcast most of the day expected with 6C for the high, back down to 0C overnight. Carry on, enjoy the start of the weekend.

Happy Anniversary to @simontaylor484 and the Mrs. BIN day, very full BINs for no accountable reason! All sorted and the BIN vans seem to be running in silent mode today, hardly heard them. Today will be busy! Somehow, I have to punctuate work with an 11Am visit to discuss more water mitigation between us and the neighbors, probably a French drain. Later, afternoon visit/meeting with our lawn/shrub maintenance guy to discuss tree/shrub trimming at the rental place. THEN!! Whitney returns around 4pm as both Jemma and Brendan are off on trips. Finally, I'll head to the pre-rehearsal happy hour for a cider and pizza followed by choir rehearsal. <phew>. Bit nippy first thing, 3C, breezy and overcast, chance of showers later and a high pushing..... 8C WOW! Later.

HAH!!! They've started a serious rate of introduction of roundabouts in our neck of the woods (other US areas have had them for years, some successfully!). I'm guestimating about 1% of the population have managed to understand and use them properly even with the copious amounts of signage accompanying them. The latest such attempt is at the bottom of a very short hill, that passes the local Starbucks, and also feeds a private school. Seems the soccer-mums driving Range Rovers, misc. BMW, Mercedes and other huge SUV land cruisers only understand that THEY IMPLICITLY have the right of way in all circumstances. Yield signs, lines on the pavement etc., aren't part of their rules of the road. With luck, given I've a dash cam, if one of these idiots fails to obey the traffic rules and hits ME, they'll quickly find out what it costs them, both in money AND lessons in driving 😡😡🤯

HUMP day, sort of, day two of only four this week. Quiet on the Minnesotan front yesterday, precious little to report at all. Worked, ate, exercised, that's it. Finished a TV series we were watching, "Nine Perfect Strangers", very odd/weird even almost disturbing, but the end was less dramatic than the lead-up implied <phew>!! Today, more of the same <yawn> 8C and sunny first thing, 18C the forecast high. Supposedly a good chance of rain today, but the Mk1 "window" weather system suggests otherwise. 🤪 I think seaweed twirlers rely too heavily on non-visual aids. Onward.

Chewsday, first day of the work week for me given yesterday was a "holiday"! Busy yesterday and accomplished quiet a lot surprisingly! Printed and framed the ERII and CRIII cyphers to hang in the bar area. Completely sorted, stored and threw out the entire contents of the top of my office workspaces, I now actually have some place to work on projects again. Organized the sundry extra/surplus to requirements USB cables that appeared to be multiplying as I tried to corral them from the workspace. It sure would be nice if all USB charging cables where the same BLQQDY type! I mean what IDIOT decided that there should be so many variants. I've more than a dozen in different lengths and connectors. Also, BRIEFLY, addressed the basement area where I'm trying to get the layout back to some semblance of order/working status. I may be able to get the main terminus board AND the engine shed board up fairly easily and along one wall, the weekend we'll see how it goes, then lookout, TRAINS may run, or at least shunt. Beyond work, nothing demanding in store today. Weather slightly warmer again, 16C first thing, sunny and headed for a high of 26C before dropping sharply the next several days, with lows around 0C by Friday. Tally ho.

Morning - it's "Indigenous Peoples Day" formerly known as "Columbus Day", here. Many states are finally acknowledging that Columbus did NOT discover North America, but only "landed on various Caribbean islands that are now the Bahamas as well as the island later called Hispaniola. He also explored the Central and South American coasts." This causes variously perturbed responses from more conservative types as many don't hold with the thought of recognizing the indigenous population at all! Now with the combination of the "new" company that I now work for and the fact the client, being on Long Island/New York, both have the day as a holiday, I'm not working, it's a technical day off. Yay! Weekend was fairly quiet, some home "items" to address, and a review of various things we need to address at the rental property took up much of Saturday. Saturday evening the neighbors annual party, very pleasant and a chance to get even better acquainted with a couple of neighbors we really like. Sunday, playing with the new thermostat/heating/cooling as it all seemed to want to avoid doing ANYTHING it was commanded to do - this in part because it was cool enough to warrant the heat being required. Sorted, but no idea HOW or WHY!! Took Whitney for an extended walk around the park and nature trail nearby, autumnal colours really starting to show; Jemma came over to retrieve Whitney as they'd returned from their Sweden trip, sounded like the had a very good time, mostly in Stokholm. Weather picking up a little today, 5C and sunny first thing, will reach 20 later. Onward... let me find something "hobby related" to do before I get other demands 🤯

POETS. OK, probably will sign up for that. Yesterday, following the ENT treatment, little of note. Early evening a fine six person collective at the pre-rehearsal happy hour with pizza and cider. Then collected the new music for our upcoming performances and returned home. In talking with the choir director, she and her hubby have BOTH had similar aural issues (fluid in the ear) and fully understood me not singing last evening. Today, work, and then looking forward to q quiet weekend - like THAT will happen! I'm sure many TO-DO items will magically appear, since that's usually the case about the time I start dreaming of hobby related options to occupy my "free" time 🤯 Only 4C first thing, heat kicked in overnight to provide a reasonable waking environment, overcast, though no chance of rain apparently. High around 11C expected. Onward with the day.

Happy birthday @BoD

BIN day, two BINs out, two emptied, result 🙂 WARNING - SPY ALERT: I'm now convinced that we have a mole/spy in our midst! After posting about the c*ckwomble power company guy driving past our place instead of performing the smart meter install, LO AND BEHOLD about an hour later, said installer appeared and replaced the meter. Must be a VERY SMART meter as it cycles through numerous info/messages on the LCD display, NONE of which can be discerned as showing any semblance of what power is being used, or rate of usage! The old DUMB meter, had the slew of dials all rotating at various speeds, but actually allowed for reading consumption. Definitely too smart for the likes of me. Bah! Nothing else from yesterday. Late online today as I had an appointment with the ENT doc to sort out my sinus/hearing issue. Results of probable infection somewhere along the line, found fluid in one eardrum, minor surgery - if you could call it that - a small cut to the eardrum to drain the fluid, a course of steroids after a fairly extensive hearing test. The hearing test was a good thing, as it provided the details to confirm I DO NOT have a hearing loss issue, beyond what was expected from the fluid situation. Nasal irrigations prescribed as well as the steroids, and return to see him in 4 weeks. Later, will collect music for the next choir performances. Doc suggested that I not sing tonight given the incision and need to not "annoy" the eardrum for a few days to let it heal. If there IS a gathering pre-rehearsal, I'll definitely do that, not restricted from eating pizza and having a beer 🤣 7C at BIN time, sunny and a little cool heading to the ENT. 15C the expected high and down to 3C overnight. Warmer clothes being retrieved from the closet. Carry on.

I know this keeps the tread off track, but I think this needs to be corrected. If you're referring to Captain Peter Burkill and the BA 777 event, he was indeed hired back by BA after some lengthy negotiations, both parties happy with the resolution. His book "Thirty Seconds to Impact" is a must read for numerous reasons.

HUMP day. Quiet and boring yesterday, except we eagerly (ya RIGHT!!) awaited the electric company representative showing up to install a smart meter. They were seen doing the other side of the street yesterday and I was expecting them to turn right around and do our side, FAT CHANCE! I've had to partially dismantle some trellis so they don't play the "can't get to the meter" card. I'd not care except they will charge $15 a MONTH if you choose to not get the new meter, whether by stating you don't want it, OR, simply because they can't gain access to replace the old one. They've been threatening to do this work at least six times this year, ever time sending notices saying "...in the next couple of weeks..." and yesterday was the first time any tangible evidence of it happening has been seen, by ANYONE in the neighborhood. This morning I even had a rush of "FINALLY", but the truck simply drove past each house on our side of the street SLOWLY, seeming to look at the property, before gliding by to the next one. C*CKWOMBLES!!! Nothing planned for today beyond work. 13C and sunny first thing, high of 22C expected. Overnight tonight will be 7C with highs tomorrow and Friday only 16C and 10C, expecting first overnight ZERO Saturday. Tally ho.

Chewsday... Extremely busy weekend only describable by saying it was the autumn equivalent of spring cleaning! The entire basement family room/bar and guest bedroom required an overhaul in preparation for our local friends staying overnight Sunday, and also as the temperatures drop, our need to actually USE the family room for evening viewing etc. Huge amounts of cleaning, re-arranging and OF COURSE, we had to go shop for new linens for the guest bedroom! That took ALL of the weekend, and we were both exhausted after it all. Sunday evening friends arrived, and we had a great meal courtesy the Mrs who prepared her grandmothers famed Hungarian goulash. Yesterday Bob had a vet appointment and with or friends here also I took the day off - why not - managed to relax some. Working today... Weather 13C and sunny, expected high of 23C. Carry on.

Wow! totally unexpected to hear about Andrew C, Ian, please offer our condolences to Liz and his family. 😒 POETS and has been quiet all week around here with little to report. Yesterday Jemma dropped off Whitney for an extended stay - 8-10 days - as she and Brendan are off on vacation in Sweden. Just had the city building inspector over to check the furnace/AC installation, all perfect and he said "whoever did this did an excellent job", so we're happy with the choice we made for the install. Later and over the weekend we start getting all the "furnace room junk" that was moved out for the install BACK into its rightful place and out of our family room and guest bedroom, doubly important as we've got friends staying with us for a couple of days on Sunday, and they'll need the space and the bedroom useable! 🤪 Other than that, quiet weekend we hope. Weather continues to be autumnal, 10C overnight the next few days and 20C the high, some rain forecast for Sunday. Onward...

According to the BBC article; There will be other changes ahead to mark the new reign of King Charles: The Bank of England says new bank notes featuring a portrait of King Charles III are "expected to enter circulation by mid-2024", with the image to be revealed before the end of this year New coins will be produced, says the Royal Mint, and will appear "in line with demand from banks and post offices". There is no date yet set for them to be in circulation, but more details of how they will look will be shown "over the coming weeks" There is a tradition, says the Royal Mint Museum, for the profile of a new monarch on coins to face in the opposite direction to their predecessor Existing banknotes and coins will continue to be valid, with Charles and Elizabeth notes and coins being used alongside each other. The Royal Mint says there are approximately 27 billion coins from Queen Elizabeth II's reign in circulation The Royal Mail says that new stamps featuring King Charles will "enter circulation once current stocks of stamps are exhausted" But a set of four memorial stamps are to be released in November, showing portraits of Queen Elizabeth II taken at different stages during her reign.

Ahh, very late checking in, mostly busy with work and then Jemma stopped by so we had a break to chat as she'd just returned from a friend's wedding in Seattle. Nothing to impart from yesterday, quiet and that's OK. Re: Fish & chip prices - not the easiest thing to find here - that's any good at least - one "renowned and much pouted location" is "The Anchor Fish and Chips". I used to refuse to eat there, since, although the food was excellent, they did NOT have/serve malt vinegar - I mean who does fish and chips WIOTHOUT that. I did make a serious suggestion that they should have the condiment, and apparently, they now DO. Whether it was as a result of said Englishman admonishing them or not I don't know. Menu for prices... Re: Corn dogs, allow me to present the newest/latest "upgrade to that tried and tested Minesota State Fair fare, the --> Tot-Dog reviews were plentiful, such as this one --> https://www.minnesotamonthly.com/food-drink/new-food-reviews-minnesota-state-fair-2022/ and it became supposedly the MOST POPULAR new food this year at the fair. Additional reviews can be found using Google. I was going to post the local newspaper review but you get badgered to sign up for a subscription at that site, so I include a screen-shot of the review/story top half. Mary the creator is one of the Mrs cousins. Not much happening today, so rearranging/moving back to their original locations miscellaneous "junk" that had to be moved from the basement area for the furnace install. We placed everything we needed to move in the den/living space in the basement, and now need to move it back so we can again use that room, especially necessary since that's where we do a lot of our TV viewing once it gets cooler/colder. That's where our big TV is 🤯 Weather is cool still, only 6C first thing, sunny and a high of 14 later. Overnight down to 2C tonight, may see first frost in northern parts. Tally ho.

Moanday arrived far earlier than I'd have liked <yawn> - ooohhh, I like that! Friday evening, we had friends over and actually prepared a meal! We've spent rather too many of the past several diners with guest result in ordering take-out from various establishments. Prepared one of our favourites, discovered during the COVID shut-down - Creamy Tuscan Chicken - the "Tuscan" isn't necessarily objective, but who's complaining 😀 Very good time catching up with friends we haven't seen since the beginning of summer for various reasons/excuses. Saturday, tasked with a variety of chores/challenges, including the latest Mrs home "improvement", adding a picture rail to the living room main wall. With flexibility and various other key requirements, settled on this -> STAS Cliprail pro looks good, functions extremely well and easy to install, SORTED, more bonus points for yours truly... Quiet evening to ourselves, especially since I needed to be up early Sunday. Sunday, off to sing at both the 9AM and 11AM services for St. Francis. Pretty much stood for 4 hours without much of a break <sigh>. My back... arrggghhh... Then, home, a quick relax and off to collect the remaining patio furniture we were getting from the friends who are moving/downsizing. Lastly, a decent evening meal and plenty of wine with those folks, here, because they are almost devoid of "anything" except the basic necessities int eh bedroom/bathroom, having boxed all else up to be taken by the movers in a day or two. So here we are, Monday! Already called the city to have our new furnace/AC install inspected, scheduled for Friday AM. Working and will be looking forward to a quiet relaxing evening 🤣 Weekend weather has been cool with lows around 6-8C, highs 15-17C and very windy. Overnight continuing to drop with Wednesday forecast to be 2C <brrr> Carry on.

POETS - here's my ERs contribution, can be read or skipped-over as you prefer 🙂 Managed to book-end choir rehearsal with a pre-rehearsal happy hour cider and pizza, with a post-rehearsal cherry pie and cider. Definitely a good evening. Today, work then friends over for dinner. Whitney will be dropped off this afternoon as Jemma has an early call at Girls In Aviation Day at a local airport. She participates every year as she's part of a women-in-aviation group and this event is designed to encourage girls to see what careers they can enjoy in the field. Jemma loves being an ambassador for aviation, very proud of her. Rest of the weekend is fairly quiet other than singing at both services Sunday for the "Feast of St. Francis". Re: COVID booster and Flu shot. Both available now, having listened to and researched several sources, seems waiting until mid-October is one recommendation, mostly so they last (some say around 4 months is the generally accepted figure) into/through the Jan/Feb most likely high points. Of course, who really knows... Weather decidedly autumnal now, 10C first thing, overcast, forecasting rain most of the day with a high of 14C Tally ho.

GREAT!! The inquest verdict is "death by mailbox occupant m'lud" 🤣🤯🤯

In my experience - limited as I've not been exposed to much more than New York city apartment living, hills above Sillycone Valley and Minnesota urban living - almost none do. Major reasons are that pretty much every single-family home as a storm/screen door that fronts the actual house door, rendering having a slot in the door rather awkward to access, especially since some folks lock their storm door and leave the front door open during daytime/postie delivery time. Additionally, there are some "odd" US-centric laws that require the "post box" to only be used for USPS deliveries, no newspapers, random flyers/notices from traders or political canvassers, etc., legally allowed to be put in there! Then there's the weather. If we didn't have a storm door (some folks don't) the slot would be far too vulnerable to the excessive cold or heat accessing the house, depending on your location! Imagine the postie leaving stuff stuck in an open slot for hours if you were gone and it's -23C outside and snowing hard 🤪 BIN day. All sorted, thank you. Re: booties for dogs - here in the frozen wastelands, once the temp gets too harsh for doggie paws you'll see many sporting booties to prevent frost-bite when on walkies. Yesterday, quiet and uneventful, today choir rehearsal after work, that's about it. Weather turning VERY autumnal, 8C first thing, sunny and only expecting 17C for the high. Tally ho.

Not actually a "box" in the more exurban/rural sense. Given we're a first ring suburb of Minneapolis, all the single-family houses here have either a box attached to the wall of the house directly by the front door, or, as in our case, a mail slot that puts the mail into a box inside the coat closet by the front door. Originally we had a box as below; discovered it covered the original slot/box, so replaced the box with a hinged brass cover (Sorry only front shot of house showing it!!); Again, with the urban nature of the neighborhood the postie walks sections leaving the van at some strategic points. Gets plenty of exercise, and only stops on a house-by-house basis in the van if there are larger/heavier packages to delivery.

Ohh, now that's unfortunate 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

HUMP day. Quiet and uneventful here yesterday, Mrs off in the afternoon for her book club - used to be that was an evening event and I could get together with another book-club "widower" to set the world to rights. For some reason the timing has now become afternoons, denying us the chance to sort the world out <sigh> Delivery services: We must be in a blessed part of the world! USPS, UPS, FedEx and Amazon are all excellent here, and always seem to be friendly and timely. The USPS regular even leaves dog biscuits for Whitney when she is here - she did ask us if it was OK to leave treats ahead of doing so, Whitney LOVES seeing her 😃 13C and sunny first thing, heading for a 22C high then down to 7C overnight. May be the first chance to see if the new furnace kicks in - it's all automated with preset heating/cooling ranges and temperatures, gotta love it 👍 Onward...

Chewsday already! Weekend was very busy. Friday evening entertaining friends and moving some of their patio furniture to our place - since they're moving to a condo no longer need it! We'll get the remainder when they finally move out, they're down to very little stuff to use right now so the remaining patio chairs are about the only remaining comfortable seating they have around! Saturday, VERY busy running errands for Trevor and Meagan ahead of their 5th Wedding Anniversary open house. Finally managed to get home around 9PM <YAWN> Sunday, off for brunch with Julies niece and partner, then entertaining next door neighbor to discuss some adjoining property projects related to drainage. All went very well and she has been considering some work herself as she also has some drainage issues to address. A win for us both probably. Yesterday, early AM "annual wellness check" appointment with the Dr. Seems I'm well, especially for my age 🤯 After that, the furnace project guys showed up and worked on that all day, all done and working well now. I/we sat and watched the EIIR funeral coverage most of the day. Weather over the weekend was very acceptable, today 17C first thing, partly cloudy some rain possible, high of 30C forecast. Carry on.

POETS - likely will participate 😃 Yesterday, nothing much during the day, then off to choir rehearsal. We had our first pre-rehearsal happy hour beer and pizza in a long while, good to get back to that! Little more known about our deceased choir member. Sadly, he was an only child, unmarried and no offspring. His emergency contact was a friend but not a relative so she was not allowed to be party to any details. All we know is that he was training (he was a barefoot water-skier as well as traditional) for an international competition, and the boat drive noticed he was "down", when they got to him, he was face down and not breathing. Without any next-of-kin currently available to be informed no knowledge as to whether he had a heart attack or what! 😪 We held a moment of silence for him. Today, we take "delivery" of some patio furniture from our friends who are downsizing, the Mrs decided ours needed upgrading and theirs fits the bill, both in comfort and more what she deems is better for our space. Terms unknown, the Mrs and friends' spouse managed all the negotiations! They will be here for dinner also. The weekend is BUSY! Tomorrow is Meagan and Trevor's' 5th wedding anniversary and there's an open house/party/gathering from 4-8pm, which we are also involved in prepping for earlier. Sunday we have a brunch with the Mrs niece and her partner then in the evening a get together with a neighbor. No rest for me looks like. Weather 17C first thing with some drizzle, supposed to have light rain off and on all day high 26C, rain clearing for tomorrow and Sunday with highs 23-26C Tally ho.